getting out of the box

My first day with the cupboard got off to a spanking start. Hoorah!
Then things suddenly slipped to a chug, and
Finally I went to bed without even getting to use the cupboard. Booooo!

Here’s my story:

1. get safely online

connect to the internet

download Windows updates, reboot

download MacAfee updates, reboot

download Microsoft update, reboot

It took about 10 mintues from pulling the Cupboard from its box to going online. Great start. It took about 4 hours and 3 reboots to get all the software security updates installed. While I’m glad to have the live software security updates, 4 hours and 3 reboots seems a bit clumsy and dulls the shine of the new-computer experience that Sony manages to make really smooth.

While all the downloading and installing and rebooting was going on I gathered all the files from Neverland using the file transfer wizard. It’s really cool because it doesn’t

actually transfer, it copies

copy only files it, it does things you use like favourites and program settings.

I adore that automatic copy everything wizard! While it’s copying stuff on Neverland I can’t use Neverland for anything. This took about 2 hours. Urgh. While Cupboard was still installing and rebooting I couldn’t use the Cupboard. This meant that both my computers were unusable for for several hours. Ouch!

3.put copies on the Cupboard

Part of the transfer process. Another couple of hours waiting before I can use the Cupboard.

4. Clean-up the installed software

Getting rid of all the stuff that Sony has put on Windows for reasons that baffle me. For example, Sony have built a navigation toolbar, it behavies like the Apple Mac Navigation toolbar and is on this PC as well as the standard, dull-but-functional Windows task bar. After a quick investigation of the contents and functionality of the Sony toolbar I zap the bugger of my netbok – when the screensize is this small I dont want duplication functionality especially when it irritatingly appears and disappears.

I also have to unpin some advertising stuff, such as the free trial of the already dated Microsoft Office 2007, from the Windows task bar.

5.Backup everything. Windows and files

Sony Viao recommends that I burn a back-up disc, but the Cupboard doesn’t have a CD drive and they haven’t provided me with an external one. This little hiccup was not made clear at the purchase point – they should have told me that I might want to purchase a USB CD burner/player so that I can back-up my computer. I used the Windows back-up to back-up on an external USB Drive. This took yet another couple of hours while not using my new computer. It wouldn’t suprise me if most people just go straight online, without adequate safety and not backing up their stuff.

6. go to sleep

it was getting late, I hadn’t started this process first thing in the morning.

7. use the cupboard

After a good night’s sleep, I will be ready to start exploring and finding out what the real differences are between a cheap netbook and a prestige laptop.

The first thing on the Windows 7 starter development team’s things to do is Discover windows 7. It’s the last thing on my start-up thing to do.

Here’s what the Windows 7 development team suggest for a new user:

a guided tour (Discover Windows 7),

getting my photographs, favourites, and programme settings from my old to this computer (transfer your files)

5 bits of lovely banter on “getting out of the box”

Me, I got online, did the security updates, got irritated beyond measure by Toshiba’s “control center” and “PC Issue Alerts,” switched the buggers off, got in with the rest of my online life. I did the file transfers over a few weeks, a bit at a time as I found I needed things. The real fun came when I tried to uninstall Office 2007 (which they’ve rendered almost unusable) and installed my entirely-serviceable and legitimate copy of Office 97…

the quality service you get per unit pence on Apple-supplied hardware is frequently lower quality than other brands. You’re paying for being part of the Apple community and branding. Hope your phut is recoverable without taking out a mortgage.

Apple were excellent to me when my MacBook Pro battery died, even though out of their battery exchange programme period – they replaced it for free with one with twice the capacity. The trick with any tech company is to sound like a guru and bristle with confidence. Visiting the store wearing a black trenchcoat and a “Practical Unix Terrorism” T-shirt with a photo of an alarm clock attached to several sticks of dynamite doesn’t weaken your case, either…

Aha, I've been busy
Buying presents, flights, travelling, packing and unpacking. No time for romance or blogging.
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